Ikebukuro At Night
by Fiare
Summary: Beneath the streetlights of Ikebukuro lies an intricate network of obsidian, afire with glimmering tales and vivid people. Though this is not an expansion of the series, rather, an examination, it reveals pathways traced in light, burning in the wake of Ikebukuro's inhabitants.
1. Perceptions, Part I

******[Episode 07]**

**[Shizuo Heiwajima and Ikebukuro]**

He demolished a store and murdered a handful of people. I

rather admire those qualities. The inability to restrain destruction, to limit the unfathomable chaos of the universe, how futile it must be to prohibit actions, to remain sane- how, indeed.

When steel bends with a caress and a rational mind is scorched into trickling white ash, when days burn and eternities glitter in an abyss- in Ikebukuro, the universe, a night, six trillion years- a single title may not be enough.

Power forged through unimaginable horror and wrought of light, darkness, love- the human forces- I realize that Shizuo is controlling himself.

I, instead, follow the vicissitudes of shattered glass and inner wastelands, blistering turquoise and flames, and, for that, power beyond comprehension circulates within hell-tainted blood without restriction.

I have not sacrificed for this.

To sacrifice, one must possess the object or quality prior to surrender.

Sanity and normalcy were an internalized equilibrium instated within the populace from conception, and I, through fortune, was unbound from such constructed incarcerations.

The words sear into impressionable minds, and, insidious, begin their inevitable end, illuminating the sky with celestial darkness, whispering unto the shadows, and, simultaneously, accomplishing neither objective.

**The End**


	2. Perceptions, Part II

**[Episode 13]**

**[Anri Sonohara and Ikebukuro]**

"Nothing happens. Nothing changes. That's her everyday life."

A mantra repeated and reiterated until it permeates the heart of Ikebukuro itself, altering the tempo, pulsing, pulsing in lights, until the days blur into the ordinary. Until nothing happens. Until nothing changes. Until that faded city is Sonohara Anri's everyday life.

What is she protecting herself from?


	3. Absolutes, Part I

**[Episode 09] **

**[Izaya Orihara and Ikebukuro] **

And there is Izaya's board game.

I should create a similar one- or perhaps I have- I possess both variables and constants.

A game with malleable rules and convoluted strategies, evolving as I progress to preclude movement and progress, constricting, restricting, binding me to mere pieces upon a board- similar to how one becomes entangled in life and relationships, is it not?

One could observe the game as a metaphor for eccentricity, or for recklessness, the state of being temerarious, impetuous, but I, I observe it as a metaphor for the manner in which humans distort their realities, distancing themselves from an absolute zero, and hopelessly enmesh themselves in a horrific matrix of delusions and interactions.

How repulsive humans can be, yet how fascinating, even as the synthetic realities that they construct consume them.

I observe, though, and that is a condolence.


	4. Absolutes, Part II

**[Episode 16]**

**[Saika and Haruna Niekawa]**

The knife.

The lovely, gleaming knife, ethereal light surrounding it, teal, aquamarine, emerald, glimmering from it, glancing off the surface, refracting, refracting, refracting into darkness.

Saika.


	5. Absolutes, Part III

**[Episode 15]**

**[Izaya Orihara and Saika]**

_Have I ever lied to you before?, _Kanra inquires.

Saika has entered the chat room. Saika has a voice, reverberating in infinite cyberspace, etched in binary, hollow, yet not devoid of substance. Today, Saika cut. I cut. Cutted. Love. Mother. Strong. Cut-

-That's rather eerie, someone interjects

With this whole Slasher thing-

Strong people. Love. I found. Love. More.

Saika has entered the chat room.

-It's here!, Kanra punctuates

The text feed with brilliant orange

How elated she seems with this development-

Saika has entered the chat room.

Shizuo. Shizuo. Shizuo. Shizuo. Shizuo. Shizuo. Shizuo. Shizuo. Shizuo. Shizuo. Shizuo. Shizuo. Shizuo Heiwajima.

-Setton attempts to communicate,

A feigned casual lilt to grey words-

Saika has entered the chat room.

Even Izaya Orihara is immobilized, a slender finger poised over a keyboard in, what, shock? Fear? Astonishment?

Saika has entered the chatroom.

Red perforates the message boards. The words spill over.

Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima. Heiwajima.

Heiwajima Shizuo.


	6. Perceptions, Part III

**[Episode 17]**

**[Anri Sonohara and Saika]**

Sonohara Anri secluded herself from the world, becoming distant. She can endure the voice of love forever- zutto zutto- because of her deficiencies.

What she lacks. The ability to love. Objective, subjective? What does it matter?

At least, finally, she becomes attached to the reality-masquerading-as-a-surreal-landscape-masquerading-as-a-thousand splintering universes.

And her detachment concludes.


	7. Absolutes, Part IV

**[Episode 16]**

**[Anri Sonohara and Saika]**

If Saika loves people, then why does it slash them? Some swords have alternative cognitive functions.

For example, when a dullahan named Celty loves someone, she demonstrates her affection in a human manner.

When a sentient katana by the name of Saika loves someone, it stabs them and/ or grievously wounds them with a knife slash.

If Anri loves someone, Saika kills permits Saika to love people for her.

She contains Saika, the original blade.

There is no distinction between the parasite and the host, for she is not parasitic, and neither is Anri.

It is a mutually beneficial relationship- mutualism.

Or, alternatively, mutual love.


	8. Perceptions, Part IV

**[Episode 10]**

**[Mikado Ryuugamine and Ikebukuro]**

He wanted an extraordinary life, a "different" life.

Sometimes game pieces are interchangeable, for they seem identical, and, at other times, their imperfections are all the difference in the world.

The question remains, though- what does Mikado plan to do in this transient relaxation of restrictions?

The ball is in his court, yes, but what does he plan to do with the dearth of information?

How does he plan to maneuver the entwined, crimson strings of fate in this briefly simmering autumn light?


	9. Perceptions, Part V

**[Episode 09]**

**[Izaya Orihara and Ikebukuro]**

A city of appearances and disappearances, as transient as lights over a freeway, mysterious lights over a desert.

People. People congregating and dispersing, interacting and separating.

Narcissists and solipsism.

And, at the center, enraptured by a game complex beyond mortal comprehension, Izaya Orihara, soon to be succeeded.

His name is a corruption of Isaiah.

A prophet.


	10. Perceptions, Part VI

**[Episode 13]**

**[Saika and Anri Sonohara]**

Saika enters the chat room, as an entity desirous of love.

Laughing maniacally, the Slasher stabs three people while Sonohara Anri observes, her eyes grey and a lovely maroon, the blood splattering across the alley.

Silent.

Eyes back, forth, one, two.

That's her.

Saika enters the chat room.

Saika spams the chat room.

People inquire. Kanra inquires of the creature.

Mother mother mother mother mother mother mother, it repeats in crimson. In shadow. Something given form by darkness.

Another location, another IP address.

The Slasher stabs three people while Sonohara Anri watches.

It's here, Kanra exclaims, punctuated uninventively.

The disguise remains.

That's her.

Saika enters the chat room. Tunnel vision. Blood across an alley. Parasite.

Saika enters the chat room.

With circled eyes, Sonohara Anri spectates. In silence.

Saika enters the chat room.


	11. Absolutes, Part V

**[Episode 15]**

**[Shizuo Heiwajima and Saika]**

The inevitable intersection…

What are you doing? A reverse of position. Still, one holds the knife, one's eyes gleam crimson under streetlights, and one stands in shadows, is that not how this scene plays out? Is one not stabbed? No? Then what is the conclusion?

Why does a katana- a sapient, intelligent, empathic katana with the ability to possess people- love Shizuo Heiwajima?


	12. Perceptions, Part VII

**[Episode 15]**

**[Shizuo Heiwajima and Ikebukuro]**

_The air around him was different. _

As if the city were bleeding through him, lights and colors, restaurant signs and advertisements, correct? A glimmer in the air, a distortion, is that not true? Behind violet-tinted glasses, golden eyes reflecting streetlights. He does seem real, does he not, with a pristine bartender's uniform, but where does the illusion end? He is furious. Ikebukuro filters around him in repeated magenta, crimson, aquamarine.

_The air around him was different. _

Of course it was.


	13. Absolutes, Part VI

**[Episode 16]**

**[Shizuo Heiwajima and Saika]**

The children of Saika believe that Shizuo is superior.

Love and hate- the dichotomy. The divide.

Shizuo can accept himself, because a sword loves him. He hated his power. He hates Izaya Orihara.

The sword's children are not his type.

He hates them. And he loves his power.

Defeat is inevitable, Saika.


	14. Perceptions, Part VIII

**[Episode 13]**

**[Anri Sonohara and Kida Masaomi]**

Oh, Anri _is not_ oblivious. Interesting. But her inability to interact prevents her from communicating her emotions to whoever may confess to her. Or perhaps not.

A gathering of Yellow Scarves- a conventicle- and someone stepping in from of Kida. The word "incendiary" is imbued with certain connotations in an explosion of connections. Is Kida there intentionally? Another allusion to his future?

Conjecture: Anri's entire life has been spent as a comparison for Harima Mika, the person for whom she felt a combination of love, admiration, and companionship.

She is isolated to the degree that she cannot between romance and friendship, but perhaps that is due to the lenient boundary between the two in childhood.

Despite the fact that they are in high school, Kida and company remain as children in their portrayal, bewildered and enchanted by the strangeness of Ikebukuro, still evolving and progressing in their individual directions.


	15. Perceptions, Part IX

**[Episode 08]**

**[Anri Sonohara and Ryugamine Mikado]**

Character development in the form of practically-trivial interactions.

The significance?

Detailing the ephemeral nature of life and the impermanence of the past, and, by extension, memories. Both characters are entangled in their past, and unite through the complications of the barricaded memories.

The fortification of memories merely ensures the inevitable damage they will incur.


	16. Absolutes, Part VII

**[Episode 10]**

**[Izaya Orihara and Mikado Ryugamine]**

Mikado connects everything, and, instantaneously, assumes control of the situation. Izaya is amused and pleased.

And Mikado decides to determine the fate of the players in a game beyond his reach, because, for an ephemeral moment, he is capable of directing everyone to his whims.


	17. Absolutes, Part VIII

**[Episode 17]**

**[Izaya Orihara and Ikeukuro]**

Orihara Izaya pulls the strings. Splendid.

Coincidentally, he was raised with such a peculiar name, and it suits him perfectly. Not as a prophet, not necessarily, but as one who can alter the future into whatever form he sees. Suitable indeed, for such a person.


	18. Absolutes, Part IX

**[Episode 14]**

**[Celty Sturluson and Izaya Orihara]**

Mythological research.

Conflict.

The head of Celty Sturluson.

Throwing those around her into the fire.

Anticipation, expectations, an inferno.

Pieces scattered on a game board in oblique light.

Slanted windows, mild disinterest.

Manufactured strife.

Reactions, predictable or not.

A spark, ignition.


	19. Perceptions, Part X

**[Episode 11]**

**[Mikado Ryugamine and Namie Yagiri]**

Steel your resolve, Ryugamine, and incite the crowd into chaos.

The passage of power has arrived at you, and, with a few simple movements, a signal, you can divert attention, entrance people, destroy Ikebukuro, divulge secrets, disclose the truth, initiate a revolution… Anything. The moon is crimson, and you have one moment, Ryugamine. Seize it.

"Would you like to try dying for once?"


	20. Absolutes, Part X

**[Episode 13]**

**[Kinnosuke Kuzuhara and Ikebukuro]**

Kinnosuke Kuzuhara- an overzealous officer, pursuing what should not be pursued, challenging a complex and intricate pre-established hierarchical authority that should not be challenged. The circumstances fluctuate, but certain truths and most of the lies in Ikebukuro are absolute.


	21. Perceptions, Part XI

**[Episode 15]**

**[Izaya Orihara and Shizuo Heiwajima]**

Izaya, the information broker of Shinjuku.

The relationship between Shizuo and Izaya is fascinating.

For it is more complex than what the audience is directly presented with, yet the subtext and nuances are expertly concealed under a veneer of realism.

"He's unpleasant," Izaya asserts, information biased to sway another person to his whims.

Izaya attempts to understand him, yet, to no avail, to learn how to deal with him.

The only person, it seems, that Izaya is unable to deal with.


	22. Perceptions, Part XII

**[Episode 15]**

**[Izaya Orihara and Shizuo Heiwajima]**

An "uncontrollable urban legend".

Another one, Izaya says, is Saika, yet does not explicitly state who the first is.

One may believe that he refers to Celty, until, of course, the viewer realizes that Celty is typically quite obedient when Izaya requests her courier services. From his perspective, Celty is not uncontrollable.

Therefore, through process of elimination, he is either referring to himself or Shizuo.

The former would indicate a lack of faith in his plans, but the second, the second indeed- he _does _have a Shizuo complex.

An obsession.

For what would Izaya be without Shizuo Heiwajima?


	23. Perceptions, Part XIII

**[Episode 13]**

**[Celty Sturluson and Kinnosuke Kuzuhara]**

Is the person on a bike imitating Celty, or is the so-called impersonator the actual person?

And what the police say regarding strengths certainly remains prominent throughout the series- Strength is not necessarily physical, but rather a combination of determination and resilience, nothing tangible, but a mental supplement to a description, a superfluity to a perception, perhaps.

While Celty attempts to intimidate the police, reality peers into the realm of the unknown, a reverse of the common theme of "looking through the cracks".

The police intrude upon her life, demonstrating that even the supernatural bows to the ordinary in Ikebukuro, while the surface may reflect a different scene.


	24. Absolutes, Part XI

**[Haruna Niekawa and Namie Yagiri]**

**[Episode 09]**

Reflections. Zutto zutto. Forever and ever. Infinity.

Imperfections.

Concepts. Notions awash in a sea of light. City lights. Glass. The scent of blood. Storm on the horizon. Imperceptible thunder. Sky smudged orange. Rain. Blood, iridescent oil, cigarettes combining in the gutters.

Cement.

Streams, business men in leather shoes, avoidant and impossibly cautious in a turmoil of umbrellas. Crimson eyes. Glittering. Streetlights reflecting. Knowledge, the electric connection of synapses behind the inscrutable rubies.

Enigmatic.

Not loquacious, cryptic and ancient. Millennia of oak-paneled studies. Alone in the rain.

Hello hurricane.

And two women who love Seiji, one stalker and one sister, united under an incarnadined moon.

**[The Beginning]**


	25. Acknowledgements

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p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: 'Open Sans', Verdana, 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"I thank strongcthulhu-with-a-fez/strong for indirectly introducing me to emDurarara!/em, strongAcesandReds/strong for the favorite and the review, strongDrrrFan /strongand strongAdalmeri Gallant/strong for the reviews, stronglazyday33/strong for the favorite, andstrongJusticeWillPrevail-L/strong for following this story./p 


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